Doctor of Philosophy | Materials Science and Engineering

PhD

Programme Type

Full-time, Part-time

​MSE Graduate Studies

[email protected]

MSE offers higher degree programmes by research on a part-time and full-time basis which has a minimum and maximum periods of candidature.

Applicants from Local Universities
Applicants from autonomous universities in Singapore must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree with at least Honours (Distinction) or better. Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) need not be provided.

Applicants from Overseas Universities (based on the first degree)

 

  • Applicants from overseas universities must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree with at least 2nd Upper Honours or better.
  • Applicants from universities in China must have an average grade of 80 or above for the relevant Bachelor’s degree.
  • Applicants from universities in India must have 1st Class Honours for the relevant Bachelor’s degree.
All applicants from overseas universities must provide GRE and TOEFL scores. Applicants from India may use GATE to replace GRE. IELTS may be used in place of TOEFL.

GRE requirements (validity of 5 years from date of application):
Minimum GRE Verbal Reasoning Measure (V) and Quantitative Reasoning Measure (Q) scores must be equivalent to or more than 149 for each category. Applicants with total GRE scores (V + Q) equivalent to or more than 319 are strongly encouraged to apply.

Minimum GRE Analytical Writing Measure score (AW) must be equivalent to or more than 3.5.

GATE requirements (validity of 3 years from date of application):
Minimum GATE percentile score must be equivalent to or more than 90%.

TOEFL requirements (validity of 2 years from date of application):
Minimum TOEFL score must be equivalent to or more than:

  • 600 for paper-based test
  • 250 for computer-based test
  • 100 for internet-based test
IELTS requirements (validity of 2 years from date of application):
Minimum IELTS score must be equivalent to or more than 6.5.

The TOEFL/IELTS requirements may be waived if the applicant can prove that English was used as the medium of instruction during tertiary studies. The documentary proof is usually in a form of a letter or certificate.
Official original test scores are not required during the application stage. However, if successfully accepted, the applicant must produce original hardcopy documents during matriculation in NTU.

Please note that MSE does not accept Technical Proficiency Tests (TPT) and English Proficiency Tests (EPT).

For more information on the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA), please visit this link.

We emphasize that the selection process is competitive. Meeting all prior requirements does not guarantee selection. All applicants will be holistically evaluated based on the submitted research proposal, research and work experience, and other relevant experiences.   

If you have any enquiries, please send them to Ms. Serena Tan at [email protected]

Programme Duration

​ 

​Full-Time ​ 

​Part-Time ​ 

​Programmes 

​Minimum 

​Maximum 

​Minimum 

​Maximum 

​Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) 

​2 years 

5 years​ 

​3 years 

​5 years 

 

1. Coursework Requirements: Coursework Requirements:

In addition to pursuing independent research, candidates are required to satisfy the following requirements. 

The coursework requirement for PhD programme is: 

  • Ph.D. - 18 Academic Units, with an average grade of B or CGPA of 3.5

For NPGS scholar, please refer to the terms and conditions in your letter of offer, letter of award for Nanyang President's Graduate Scholarship.

2. Ph.D. Qualifying Examination (QE):

Candidates have to undergo QE within 18th and 20th month of the candidature. Students must pass both parts below to confirm their Ph.D. or M.Eng. status: 

(i) Graduate coursework with required CGPA, and

(ii) Completion of a report and an oral presentation

3. Thesis & Oral Examination

At the end of the programme, both Ph.D. and M.Eng. are required to write and submit a thesis, which will be examined by internal and external examiners. After which, students have to conduct an oral examination.

All Ph.D. students must have at least 1 accepted first author publication before these submission. 

The following modules are offered under the PhD by research program.


Please click here to view more detailed information of the postgraduate courses.

Our graduates are always in high demand by the industry due to their interdisciplinary training and relevant research competencies. Many of our graduate students go on to secure employment during their final year of candidature in multinational organizations and overseas universities/research institutions such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Queensland, BASF, Hewlett Packard, Ciba Vision, Advanced Micro Devices and GlobalFoundries.